The third-placed candidate at the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi has condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration for removing subsidy on petrol without providing immediate palliatives to cushion the potential effects of the move.

Obi noted that the abrupt termination of subsidies without putting steps in place to mitigate the hardship caused by the decision amounted to catching someone napping.

He made the submission on Tuesday during a meeting with members of the media at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Obi said: “There is a difference between removing your tooth by applying artificial which will ameliorate your pain than just putting it out.

“I believe it (fuel subsidy) should be removed with conditions and that (conditions) must be applied. If I was involved, I would have shown empirical statistical data, how much we are going to save from it (subsidy), where we are going to apply it, the gains for the people,” he stated.

He added; “Just like I said during my campaign that I’m going to governor the people (Nigerians) by being open, showing them empirically verifiable facts on how the country can be better when they follow it”. He concluded.

Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes, is currently contesting the victory of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja.

Mr Tinubu defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election, having scored a total of 8,794,726 votes.